North Korea delays talks with U.S. on Cheonan warship sinking

Pyongyang has delayed indefinitely talks with the U.S military to discuss South Korea's Cheonan warship sinking blamed on the North, Yonhap said on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

On Friday it was announced that the talks with the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), a command structure for the multinational military forces supporting South Korea, will be held on Tuesday morning.

A few hours before the talks were to take place, the North's military "requested a delay in the planned colonel-level meetings with United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission representatives at Panmunjom for administrative reasons," the agency cited a UNC statement.

A new date for the meeting is yet to be set.

The 1,200-ton South Korean warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. South Korea says it has proof that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang denies the attack.

The UN Security Council condemned the incident on Saturday and stressed the need to prevent similar attacks in the region, but did not place the direct responsibility on North Korea.